//------------------------------// // Episode 3: Project: PHOENIX // Story: My Little Pony: The Mobian Era // by Mister E-Nonymous //------------------------------// Episode 3: Project: PHOENIX Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Joshua were walking back through the halls of the Castle of Friendship. The four of them sighed happily. Twilight turned to her three kids. "You all happy to be back here?" Twilight asked. "Yes," Nyx said. "It's so good to be back home." "Glad things are getting back to normal, Mom," Joshua said. "I might be 10 now, but it's going to be really different now that you're all Mobians like Sonic and the Freedom Fighters." "Did we have any information about what made us this way?" Spike asked. "Well, according to Sonic and Tails, it was something called 'Chaos Control'," Twilight said. "They said that when seven special gems are brought together, they can turn thought into power." "Wow," Spike said. "Special gems. they sound... delicious." "Those things have a lot of energy in them," Twilight said. "If you taste one of them, you could be zapped across the room." The four of them walked up to the throne room. They saw Starlight and Sunburst talking to each other. The two of them looked over and saw the two coming in. "Oh, hi, Twilight," Starlight said smiling. "Hey, Spike, Nyx and Joshua. Welcome back." "Thanks, Starlight," Twilight said. "Sorry about having to take back the Castle." "It's alright, Twilight," Starlight said. "It was yours in the first place. Besides, we're going to be moving into the headmaster's bedroom at the School of Friendship together." "Really?" Twilight asked. "Why are you so cool about this?" "Starlight and I have been spending a lot of time together," Sunburst said. "So, you've made a partnership with the Freedom Fighters?" "That's right," Twilight said. She then held out an arm. "Starlight, Sunburst, meet Nicole." Then a light emitted, showing Nicole. She said, "Hello, Starlight. Hello, Sunburst." "Whoa!" said Sunburst. "Nice appearance. Nice to meet you." Sunburst then tried grabbing Nicole's hand, but it went right through her arm. "Whoa! What happened?!" "Nicole is a hologram," Joshua said. "Which happens to be an image of solid light," Nicole said. "Some of the Freedom Fighters installed me into the Castle of Friendship. Although, I only communicate with Twilight and the kids in their bedrooms whenever they push a button by the door leading to the hallway." "Good call," said Twilight. "We're still getting used to these new life styles. Although, thanks to Discord, everypony in Ponyville has gotten used to their life styles. How to walk, dressing in clothing, even doing things like a bipedal. Although, Applejack and her family are still bucking apples off the trees like they normally do, and with enhanced durability in there legs, they're getting a work out. Legs for bucking, and arms for carrying the buckets." "Yeah," said Starlight. "Although, I don't see why it's mostly the females that have to wear the clothing. Rarity is getting a workout trying to make us all outfits." "It's a mystery to us as well," said Twilight. Then they all shook their heads, thinking about what they were currently talking about. Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Joshua were all sitting in the throne room, talking about when Nyx and Joshua will be able to start school back at the Ponyville Schoolhouse. Just then, Nicole appeared. "Twilight, you have some guests," Nicole said. "Thank you, Nicole," Twilight said. "Who's outside?" "MC, Mutt, Bunnie and Rotor," Nicole said. "They're walking towards here as we speak." "Okay," Twilight said. "Send them in." Nicole nodded, and then MC, Mutt, Bunnie and Rotor walked in, MC was on the phone. "Are you sure you got permission from the President about this?" MC asked over the phone. "That place is property of the US Government." MC waited for a few seconds to reply. "Alright. But this better not be anything funny or dangerous." He then hung up. Twilight looked over at Nicole and asked, "Nicole, who was MC talking to over the phone?" Nicole told Twilight who MC was talking to over the phone. But all that could be heard was the warning sound. Then everyone covered their ears. "Oh, man, Nicole!" Rotor said. "Next time, just say your creator and not his name!" "Sorry," Nicole said. "I'll remember that next time." She then vanished. "Anyway, the guy over the phone has given me a certain task to do," MC said. "And he wanted me to bring these guys in on this mission. He even wanted you to come, Sparkles." "Me?" Twilight asked. "I'm not so sure about this. I got a lot of things to do here. I got meetings to attend, I got a country to run. I'm not sure that I can go on this mission." "It doesn't have anything to do with that Doctor Robotnik guy, does it?" Spike asked. "No way, sugah," Bunnie said. "Robotnik is still missin'. Even if he's found, he's still gonna be arrested for startin' a war between humans and Mobians." "Well that's good," Twilight said. "We wouldn't want him to show is ugly face again." Twilight then sighed and said, "I can't go. I'm far too busy." MC sighed and said, "Alright. Looks like we're on our own. After all, it's just an old Space Colony." Twilight went wide eyed, teleported in front of MC and said, "Did you say Space Colony?! Oh, this is something I have to check out!" "There's a space colony?" Nyx asked. "Can we go, too?" "I think a Space Colony is so cool," Joshua said. "I wanna go, too." "I don't know," Twilight said. "What do you think, MC?" "If Joshua's going, we need to get him fitted into a spacesuit," MC said. "Which is gonna be hard for Rarity to do. Since she doesn't know what spacesuits need." "Delivery for Joshua at the front door," Nicole's voice said. Twilight teleported away and came back with a big box. MC used his claws to open the box, and inside was a spacesuit. "A spacesuit?" MC asked. He then pulled out the suit and handed Joshua the jumpsuit. "Put this on over your clothes." Joshua did, took off his shoes, and put on the jumpsuit. He then put on the spacesuit without the helmet. "Why does he get a spacesuit?" Nyx asked. "Because humans can't breathe in space," Mutt said. "They need air to breathe in space." "Although, it's weird that we Mobians don't need air in space, but we do in water," Rotor said. "Where's the science in that?" The group shook their heads. MC then said, "Anyway, Tails has got out his Spaceship, and Rotor is going to pilot us there." "So, when are we leaving?" Twilight asked. "The Spaceship's actually ready to go," said Rotor. "Let's get going." The eight of them headed out of the castle and towards the spaceship. Which was surrounded by the local ponies. "Saw this coming," said MC, making the others laugh. Then the group headed for the spaceship. MC then called out, "Back it up! Back it up all of you!" Then all of the ponies started moving from the spaceship. One of the ponies wasn't a pony, but a yak. Yona the Yak to be precise. "Ah, man!" Yona said. "Yona really wanted to smash big metal thing!" Twilight walked up to Yona and said, "This is a thing of transport, not something for smashing. You can try smashing something else." "Awww..." Yona said. She then walked away. Then the group of eight got into the spaceship. Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Joshua got into the back area where the power source was. Spike looked at the power source and his eyes got bigger. There was a gem in where the power source is. "Whoa!" Spike said. "Look at the size of that gem!" The four of them looked at it, and Nyx said, "That's bigger than that fire ruby you found six months ago!" "It looks so good," Spike said. He then tried to pound on the glass. "I wouldn't remove that if I were you," came Nicole's voice. "That's one of the seven Chaos Emeralds. A gem with extraordinary power. Also, Twilight would be right. If you take a bite out of it, you'll be sent back and hit the wall." "Ah, man," Spike said. "Now, Joshua, put on your helmet," Nicole said. Joshua did as Nicole said. "To lock it, push down on it, and twist it until it's locked." Joshua pushed down on his helmet until it gave a clicking noise. "Okay," Twilight said. "What's this hose for?" Twilight noticed the hose coming from the back of Joshua's suit. Then MC rushed in, and attached the hose to Joshua's helmet. "That hose is for Joshua to get oxygen," MC said after turning it on. "Now, get in your seats, 'cause we're going on a trip to space." Then four seats came in, and Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Joshua sat in them, and their seat belts were buckled in. Then the room started shaking as MC went into the cockpit. Then the spaceship started floating, and heading into the sky. As soon as they made it out of Earth's atmosphere, everything started floating. Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Joshua saw some of the stuff that Twilight brought starting to float. "What's happening?" Nyx asked. "You are now experiencing zero gravity," Nicole said. "Everything is weightless. You are now free to roam about the cabin." Then the seat belts they had on came loose, and the four of them started floating. "Whoa!" said the four of them as they were floating. "This is actually nice," Joshua said. "This is awesome, Twilight!" Spike said. "We're actually floating!" "Everyone get ready," Nicole said. "We are activating the artificial gravity." "Artificial what?" Nyx asked. Then the four of them went back to the ground. "Okay. That hurt." Then the four of them got up. "Should have known they'd come up with plans to get us some gravity," Twilight said. "Let's go." Then the four of them headed to the bridge. Rotor was on the controls with MC sitting on the passenger side. Bunnie was behind Rotor and Mutt was behind MC. Mutt saw the others coming in and said, "Hey, guys." The doors closed after Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Joshua walked in. "Are we there yet?" Joshua asked. "Not yet," said MC. "It'll be a while until we get there." Just then, the door opened again, and Nicole walked in. MC, Bunnie, Mutt, Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Joshua saw Nicole. "Hey, Nicole," Twilight said. "Wait a minute!" MC said. "This spaceship doesn't have any light projectors for Nicole to be seen." "Wait, what?" Nicole asked. Just then, MC rushed in and held down "Nicole's" arms. "Who are you?!" MC asked, angrily. Then, green flames surrounded Nicole, and she transformed into something else. "Ocellus?!" Twilight asked. She then groaned. "What are you doing here?" "I wanted to see what was going on here, so I snuck in as that lynx thing," Ocellus said. "How was I supposed to know she was an illusion?" "Better late than never," Nicole's voice came from the speakers. "Looks like we're gonna have to turn around and go back," Twilight said. "We're too far from the planet to turn back now," Rotor said. "Besides... we're almost there. Look." Everyone looked out the windshield, and saw a huge rock there. "What is that?" Nyx asked. MC pulled out a file and said, "According to the files, that is Space Colony ARK. After an incident 50 years ago, the place was shut down. Some say that this place still has creatures lurking the halls." "Well, let's hope them varmints ain't alive," Bunnie said. "Rotor, take us in," MC said. Rotor flew the spaceship towards the place. But from inside, there was a faint blue glow. Then a faint blue tentacle was spotted, cutting into a metal wall. The spaceship landed in the space port of the ARK. The doors opened, and MC ran out of the ship to one door with a handheld device. MC than said, "Nicole. Activate the air shield and the power." The device then started beeping and the lights went on and a barrier went up, and the others came up. Then Twilight, Spike, Nyx, Joshua, Ocellus, Bunnie, Rotor and Mutt came out of the spaceship. They looked all around the place. "Whoa," Twilight said. "This place is amazing." "We still got a mission to accomplish," MC said. "Let's get going." Just then, the lights went out. "What just happened?" Ocellus asked. MC looked around. He then started smelling. He then said, "I don't think we're alone. Everyone stick together." The group nodded, and then they got closer together. They walked over through the hallways of the place, sticking together as they were walking by. "What do you think knocked the power out?" Twilight asked. "According to Nicole, the power's on, it's just the light's that aren't working," MC said. "It seems to be that the power for the lights have been drained." "Drained?" Bunnie asked. "What do ya mean, MC?" "I don't know," MC said. Mutt looked over at the walls and saw scratch marks. He then asked, "What do you think made these?" The group looked at the scratch marks on the walls. MC then asked, "Anyone got a light on them?" Then a white glow came in, and MC looked towards the light and saw that the light was coming from Joshua's hands. MC then asked, "How are you doing that?" "Joshua was turned into a pony by an evil unicorn king named Sombra," Twilight said. "We cured Joshua, but he's still able to do unicorn magic." "Odd," said MC. Then he checked back with the scratch marks. "Interesting. I've never seen scratch marks like this before. It's something I've never seen before." "MC, should we be worried?" Nyx asked, holding Joshua. "We'll be fine," said MC. "Rotor's good with machines, Bunnie's got her arm plasma cannon, and Mutt has got the determination to get going." "That's true," said Bunnie. "The li'l sugah is very determined. So, should we get going?" "Bunnie's right," Rotor said. "Don't we have a mission?" The group kept walking through the hallways, not noticing a faint blue glow coming from behind them. They reached a certain door and opened it up. Inside, there was a lab. "A research lab?!" Twilight asked excitedly. "Oh my gosh! I have to check out everything!" "Hold on, Sparkles," MC said. "Perhaps there's information about Project: PHOENIX somewhere in this computer." Rotor then turned on the computer, and plugged Nicole into it. "Nicole, search for Project: PHOENIX." "Accessing," Nicole said in the device. "Error. There are no files in this computer containing information about Project: PHOENIX." "No files?" Rotor asked. "That doesn't make any sense." "Let's check the other computers," MC said. They then went to console after console, but there was nothing containing any information about what they were looking for. They all sat in individual chairs. "All that searching, no such file exist on Project: PHOENIX," Twilight said. "What is Project: PHOENIX anyway?" Ocellus asked. "We have no idea," said MC. "We looked everywhere in here, and nothing on Project: PHOENIX. Guess this mission was a bust. We came all the way up here for nothing." "But still, this place is amazing," said Twilight. "So much scientific research. A great view of the planet. And a cool lab to do some experiments on." "Oh, man," Joshua said. "I bet I'm the first human kid to ever come up to space." "Actually, Joshua, you are not," Nicole said coming from the handheld device. "There was once a young girl that lived here in this colony with her grandfather, due to her illness." "Really?" Joshua asked. "What was her name?" "That little girl was named Maria Robotnik," Nicole answered. The group went wide-eyed. "Robotnik?" Twilight asked. "Any relation to Doctor Robotnik?" "According to family records, yes," Nicole said. "She happens to be Julian Robotnik's cousin until she died almost fifty years ago due to the government shutting down the place. And not due to her illness." "What did she have?" Nyx asked. "According to Maria Robotnik's medical records, she was diagnosed with Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome," Nicole responded. That made all the older ones wince. "That's a serious disease," Rotor said. "No wonder she was sent up here. Her parents probably didn't want her to get teased for having that." "Makes sense," Twilight said. "But who was taking care of her?" "Her grandfather, and the head scientist of this place, Professor Gerald Robotnik," Nicole responded. "He was a brilliant scientist trying to make things to protect the planet from destruction." "Then how did Eggman get the evil bug?" Mutt asked. "I bet he gets it from his mother," Nyx said. "Diamond Tiara's mother tried making her be superior to all other ponies just because she's rich." "I'm with Nyx on that," said MC. "Look at this picture of Doctor Robotnik's mother." When they saw the picture, all of them jumped and screamed. "That's Robotnik's mother?!" Twilight asked. "She has a mustache!" "Humans grow facial hair," Nicole said. "It's about 5 to 10 percent of women that grow facial hair. She must be one of the 5 to 10 percent." "So, if this place had a little girl in it, do you think we should go see her room?" Nyx asked. "I guess since we got time," said MC. "Let's go find it." Then the group walked out of the room. They walked down the halls. When they went around a corner, Spike thought he saw some blue light. He turned his head back, but he didn't see anything there. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to the group. The group entered one room. They all said something that surprised them. All the stuff was still there. "Wait a minute," Twilight said. "Why is all this stuff still here? They could've taken this stuff back down to the planet." "Guess they just locked it up, and left all the stuff here," MC said. "Why would they do that?" Spike asked. "Beats me, sugah," Bunnie said. When Bunnie said that, Mutt noticed something over by the bookshelf on the floor. They were scuff marks in a horizontal pattern. "This is a nice room though," Ocellus said. She then looked at a photo of the girl. She smirked and transformed into the girl. "Hey, check me out. I'm a human girl." That made the others, sans Mutt, laugh, chuckle or shake their head smiling. Mutt then called out, "Hey, guys! Check this out!" The group looked towards Mutt and Ocellus went back to her normal form. They all walked over to him and they saw the scuff marks. "Scuff marks?" MC asked. "Is there a secret room behind this bookcase?" "It's probably a bathroom or something," Twilight said. She then tried pulling the bookcase like a swinging door. "The scuff marks are straight and horizontal," said Rotor. "It doesn't open like a door. Perhaps there's a secret way to get in." "A door to get in," said MC. "It's probably something like a certain book to open this." MC looked around and saw two books with the same exact titles. MC tilted one, which was a normal book. "Ah, 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. One of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia books." MC then looked up at the other book and said, "Bunnie, can you reach that book up there?" MC pointed his hand at the other book. Bunnie extended her robotic hand and tilted the book, making the bookshelf move to the left, revealing the secret room. Inside was a secret lab. "What is this place?" asked Twilight. "It looks like a secret lab," MC said. Bunnie then held out her hand, which had a flashlight installed in the palm, lighting up the room. "Look at that capsule." Bunnie aimed her flashlight hand towards the capsule. "What is this?" Twilight asked. "Look, there's something on the console!" Rotor said. The group ran over to the console, and Ocellus grabbed the file that was sitting there. Bunnie pointed her light towards the file, and it was marked "Project: PHOENIX." "This is it!" Ocellus said. "This is Project: PHOENIX!" She then started reading the file. "'After the government shut down the Colony, I was hiding in the secret corridors of the place. Of course, I had taken Maria Robotnik's dying body to a secret lab that only me and my employer, Professor Gerald Robotnik, knows about. Too bad he was apprehended by the agents of GUN. I couldn't let the granddaughter of my employer die like this, so I had to do whatever it took to save her. Using some information from another project we were working on. Making her reborn as a Mobian Hedgehog. She has been reborn. Through Project: PHOENIX, Maria Robotnik the Hedgehog.'" "Reborn," MC said. "A phoenix is an immortal bird. They'll be able to rise up from whatever damage they've taken in. She must've been given a healing factor." "Yep," Ocellus said. "It says right here. Along with a lot of different abilities. Some abilities can be triggered by a certain instinct, calling it the Phoenix Flare. The abilities she can do herself without that Flare is super speed, healing, enhanced jumping, enhanced stamina, and enhanced durability." "So, the other abilities she has can be activated by a certain instinct?" Bunnie asked. "Oh mah starz." "She was given the chance to live again," MC said. "That's why she's in that capsule. I think she's been in there long enough. Let's open it." MC then walked over to the capsule, and Rotor tossed the handheld device, and plugged it into a plug in connected to the capsule. "Accessing," Nicole said. "Opening capsule." Then the liquid inside the capsule started draining, revealing a blonde hedgehog girl. When it opened up, the group was surprised, and then Twilight covered Spike's eyes, Bunnie covered Nyx's eyes, Rotor covered Joshua's eyes and MC covered Mutt's eyes. "She's naked!" Twilight, MC, Bunnie and Rotor said in unison. "Ocellus, go find one of Maria's old dresses in her dresser drawer," Twilight said. Ocellus nodded and headed back to the other room, then came back with a dress. She put it on over the hedgehog girl, which was too big for her in that body. "Wow," said Ocellus. "Looks like she needs to get fitted for clothes." "And something of this decade," Bunnie said. The four older ones uncovered the eyes of the younger ones. MC then walked over to Ocellus and the blonde hedgehog, and he picked up the hedgehog girl. "So, Maria Robotnik was Project: PHOENIX the entire time," said MC. "Let's get her back down to the ground." Then they all headed out of there while Ocellus grabbed some of Maria's stuff. Like her pictures and her diary. Even some of her underwear. "Good thinking," said Twilight. "Bringing in some of her stuff from up here. Of course, we're gonna have to make them good as new when we get back home." When they went back into the hallway, the group stopped. MC then said, "Oh, boy. Looks like we got trouble." The group were surrounded by robotic energy creatures, surrounding them in the hallway. The group then got into a battle position. "What are these things?" Twilight asked. "I have seen these creatures in the files," said Nicole on the handheld device. "They're energy creatures based on an old protection god. These creatures are known as Artificial Chaos. They have gone rogue from their programming." "Looks like we're gonna have to fight our way out," said MC. "Nicole, do they have any weak points?" "They can only be destroyed by breaking their heads," Nicole responded. "Ah'm on it!" Bunnie said, pointing her robotic hand towards the Artificial Chaos, her hand turning into a cannon, and firing at the Artificial Chaos. A bunch of them got destroyed. "Let's move it!" MC said, the group running through. The Artificial Chaos tried grabbing them with their tentacles, the group dodging them. One of the tentacles scratched the walls. "That's what made the scratches we saw earlier!" Mutt said. "We gotta get out of here!" Twilight said. "Get back to the ship!" The group ran down the halls back to the space port. When they reached the space port, they headed for the ship. "We're almost there!" Twilight shouted. But then they all stopped when some flying Artificial Chaos blocked their path. Then more of them came into the room. Bunnie then aimed her arm towards one of them, but one of them reached a tentacle at her arm, electricity coming from it. "Gaaaah!" Bunnie shouted as the Artificial Chaos let go of her robotic arm. She then tried firing at that one Artificial Chaos, but her arm wasn't shifting. "Mah arm! It ain't changin' modes! Ah'm disarmed!" "They can drain energy?" MC asked. "That's why the lights are out. They drained the power out of them!" "If they drain the Chaos Emerald's energy, we're going to be trapped up here," Rotor said. "We're gonna die!" Joshua shouted. Just then, the hedgehog girl started to stir from her slumber. She opened her eyes and saw the group around her. She saw Mutt, Nyx, Spike and Joshua scared. She then looked over to what was scaring them. She then closed her eyes, and opened them up with an angry expression, and her eyes went from blue to red. She then jumped out of MC's arms, and was surrounded in an orange aura, then she zoomed across the room, destroying the Artificial Chaos throughout the entire colony. Then later, the hedgehog girl came back looking at the group. She then went exhausted, the aura disappearing from her and her eyes going back to blue. She then passed out on the floor. The group, except for MC, ran over to her. MC then asked, "Was that..." "The Phoenix Flare," Twilight said. "It must have been it." "That... was awesome!" Nyx said. "She took out every single one of them," Joshua said. "So, this is what Maria Robotnik has become," Spike said. "I'm just glad she's on our side." The others nodded. "Wait a second," Bunnie said. "If the Artificial Chaos drains energy and they're gone..." She then checked her robotic hand, which turned back into her arm cannon. "Oh, mah starz. Mah arm is fully functional." "Let's go home," MC said. Then they all turned around, going into the ship, taking Maria with them. "Joshua, put on your helmet." Joshua nodded, and put his helmet back on. MC picked up Maria, and handed her over to Twilight and Bunnie, taking Maria into the ship. Then MC rushed over, and shut off the power. He then rushed back onto the ship, and then the ship took off, heading back to the planet below. The next morning, Maria Robotnik was in a guest room, waking up from using so much energy the previous day. She sat up on her bed, rubbing her eyes. She then looked around and saw she was in a crystal bedroom. She got confused and asked, "Where am I?" "You are in a castle in an entirely new country that appeared out of nowhere, Miss Robotnik," came Nicole's voice. Maria looked around, a little scared. "Who are you?" Maria asked. "Where are you?" "I am Nicole," Nicole responded. "I am an artificial intelligence designed for helping people. Although, there is something you should know. As if you don't know." "What don't I know?" Maria asked. "Some scientist that worked with your grandfather had saved your life," Nicole said. "But to do so, you had to lose one thing." "And that is?" Maria asked. "Your humanity," Nicole responded. That made Maria go wide eyed. She then checked her body, starting with her face. She felt her muzzle, then her nose, then she reached up to her hedgehog ears, and then she saw her hands. She then felt her back area, going down, and she felt her tail. "I'm... a hedgehog?" Maria asked. Then the door opened, revealing Twilight Sparkle walking in with a change of clothes for Maria. "Oh, good," Twilight said. "You're awake." "Who... who are you?" Maria asked, nervously. Twilight giggled and said, "My name is Twilight Sparkle. High Princess of Equestria. Here are some clothes for you to wear. My friend Rarity has taken your measurements, and had to modernize some clothes." Maria got confused and asked, "Modernized?" "You've been asleep, Maria," Twilight said. "For over 50 years." Maria got surprised at that. Later, in the dining room, Spike, Nyx, Joshua, MC, Mutt, Bunnie and Rotor were having breakfast. Being watched by the Royal Guard. MC was a little annoyed being watched by the guards and said, "You know, some of us can defend ourselves." "Sorry, your highness," said one of the guards. "But we're ordered to protect any royals or visiting dignitaries from any certain danger. We're even assigned to protect your country's president if he comes over." MC chuckled and asked, "Do all of you just protect royals by being in the same room? Because it just might be awkward if the royals have to use the bathroom." The same guard that answer replied, "Hey, we don't take protecting that far." That made everyone in the room laugh. Just then, Twilight walked into the room with Maria following her. "Everypony, say hello to Maria Robotnik," Twilight said. "Glad to finally meet you, Maria," MC said. "Nice to meet you, too," Maria said. She then looked around. "So, this is Earth. I was hoping to come back down from the ARK. Sure, it was 50 years later, but good enough for me." Mutt then looked over at Twilight and asked, "So, what's happening with Ocellus?" "For sneaking onto our ship without permission, Starlight is making her clean up every bathroom in the school for a week," Twilight said. "Being supervised by both Starlight and Sunburst." "Although, it must be awkward for her to do the men's room with some boys walking in," Rotor said, making everyone but Maria and the guards laugh. "Is Ocellus a pony as well?" Maria asked. "Nope," said MC. "She's a shapeshifting bug-like pony called a changeling. They feed on love and power." "They used to steal love and power from other ponies," Spike said. "But now with Thorax in charge, we're friends with the Changelings." "Well, that's good," Maria said. "So, Maria, wanna see how much America's changed after all this time when we're going home?" MC asked. "It would be nice to see how much things have changed all this time," Maria said. "Well then eat up," said Twilight. "It's gonna be a long trip." Maria nodded as Spike placed down a plate of pancakes in front of her. She then picked up her fork, cut up a part of her pancakes, and took a bite. Maria smiled and said, "Yum!"